San Francisco-based shareware house Skunk Studios have released their latest sports title, the sequel to 2002's popular 3D bowling simulator Gutterball.

Gutterball 2 moves beyond the developer's previous bowling effort; the new game features a re-designed physics engine and a new graphics engine supporting all the newest bells and whistles. Players can square off against the game's AI, against up to three other human players, or read the lane in single-player mode. Players control the ball through the mouse - throw strength is determined by how quickly players move the mouse. And unlike other bowling titles, throws in the new title aren't limited to frozen ropes; players have a chance to throw some body english into the shot and can steer the ball left or right as it travels down the lane. Finally, the chance to nail a Brooklyn strike.

The new title features five themed bowling alleys, complete with their own cast of characters. Move from the standard 1950's retro lane to the exotic Lotus Lanes, Jungle Alley and Iceberg level, in which an angry seal might just scamper across the lane and turn a perfect shot into a nothing ball. Sound effects, crowd cheering and a funky soundtrack fill the air, while two burly announcers take turns either cheering or jeering players. And finally, scores can be tracked both through the game's local high scores list, and compared to other players' scores online.

The new title requires a 700 MHz CPU running any flavour of OS X, and equipped with an OpenGL graphics card. The game, which offers players sixty minutes of free play before requiring a $24.95 registration fee, is available through the Skunk Studios website: